Narendra Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister in half a century to stir up controversy over India’s ceding of Kachchativu to Sri Lanka.
Having been in office for 10 years, he has never said anything controversial regarding that tiny islet in the Palk Strait, but now as India is bracing for the Lok Sabha elections, his comments have become a major talking point in the political arena.
It is strongly believed that Modi, who is a leader with overwhelming popular support in North India, will become the Prime Minister for the third time. If that happens, he will become the first political leader of India after Jawaharlal Nehru to become prime minister three times in a row.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been unable to garner significant support in southern states, particularly in Tamil Nadu, which has been ruled by two major Dravidian movement parties for nearly seven decades. Modi and the BJP are keen to use the Kachchativu issue, which has been a sensitive one for many decades in Tamil Nadu, to attack the Congress Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) – both long-time allies.
This is not the first time that Modi has used the Kachchativu issue to attack the Opposition. During a speech in Parliament in August last year, Modi criticised former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for ceding Kachchativu to Sri Lanka when she was in power. That speech did not spark a controversy like the one that is currently raging on.
Modi attacks the Congress
The heat of the Lok Sabha election campaign has naturally turned the spotlight heavily on the current controversy. The BJP’s Tamil Nadu President Kuppusamy Annamalai has invoked the Right to Information (RTI) to seek details from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the decision taken by Gandhi’s Congress Government to give away Kachchativu to the neighbouring country. Subsequent events clearly show that this was a premeditated act.
There is no gainsaying that Annamalai sought the details with the full patronage of the BJP’s high command. He also immediately shared the documents given by the MEA with the media.
Congress Party General Secretary-in-Charge of Public Communication Jairam Ramesh pointed out that Annamalai’s application had been given VVIP treatment and answered promptly while lakhs of applications for information about burning issues facing the people had been ignored or rejected. He took a shot at Annamalai for sharing the documents with the media. Prime Minister Modi, in no time, went to town and made it controversial. Ramesh said that it was like match-fixing in cricket.
Prime Minister Modi first posted on the social networking site X on 31 March, following a detailed report in the Times of India regarding the MEA documents.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi callously ceded Kachchativu to Sri Lanka without respecting the sentiments of the people; then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was given complete details regarding the talks held by the Indian Government with Sri Lanka; though outwardly opposed to the ceding of Kachchativu to Sri Lanka, he implicitly agreed with the Central Government; Karunanidhi, who said that he could not publicly take a position in favour of the agreement with Sri Lanka for political reasons, assured the then Foreign Secretary that he would see to it that there were no big protests in his state. These are the main points of the BJP’s campaign against the Congress and the DMK based on the information allegedly contained in the documents given to Annamalai by the MEA.
Modi’s real intention is to tell the people of Tamil Nadu that not only the Congress but also the DMK was responsible for the ceding of Kachchativu to Sri Lanka.
He also pointed to a comment made by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on Kachchativu as proof of his allegation that the Congress has never been concerned about the territorial integrity and national security of India.
“I do not attach any importance to that little island. I have no hesitation in giving up our claim to it. I do not want this matter to drag on indefinitely and the issue to be raised up in Parliament,” Nehru said on 10 May 1961, according to the MEA’s reply.
“New facts reveal how the Congress callously gave up Kachchativu. They are startling. This has angered every Indian. It reaffirms people’s belief that the Congress can never be trusted. The Congress has been working for 75 years in a way that is weakening India’s unity, integrity, and interests,” Modi said on 31 March.
Speaking at a media conference at the BJP Headquarters in New Delhi the next day, Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took extra care to emphasise that Indian fishermen were facing a crisis as a result of Indira Gandhi’s action.
When asked by journalists if New Delhi was looking into revisiting the Kachchativu agreement, Jaishankar avoided a direct answer, saying: “That is not the important issue. The Kachchativu issue is in court.” He, however, rejected the claim that the issue had been settled completely half a century ago.
Various prominent leaders of the BJP have also come out strongly criticising the Congress Party and the DMK on the issue.
“The ball is now in the Central Government’s court. All possible solutions will be considered. The BJP’s only aim is to protect the Tamil Nadu fishermen. Prime Minister Modi and the Minister of External Affairs are very concerned about this issue. Kachchativu was illegally handed over to Sri Lanka. The Central Government is taking all possible steps to retrieve the island,” Annamalai told reporters in Chennai.
Congress pushes back
Reacting to the controversy sparked by Modi, Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge immediately took to X to say that the Prime Minister had suddenly woken up from a slumber after the 10th year of his misrule and was talking about India’s national security and territorial integrity, adding that the issue was being stirred up because of the elections.
Kharge also clarified that the Kachchativu island had been ceded in the 1974 agreement based on a “friendly gesture,” similar to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) executed between India and Bangladesh during Modi’s first term as Prime Minister in 2015. He reminded Modi of his description of the LBA, where he said that the agreement was not an act of realignment of land enclaves but a meeting of hearts. Similarly, the Kachchativu agreement was also signed on the basis of friendship with Sri Lanka, Kharge said.
“On the eve of elections in Tamil Nadu, you are raising a sensitive issue, but your own Government’s Attorney General Shri Mukul Rohatgi in 2014 told the following to the Supreme Court: ‘Kachchativu went to Sri Lanka by an agreement in 1974… How can it be taken back today? If you want Kachchativu back, you will have to go to war to get it back.’ Pradhan Mantriji, you should say: did your Government take any action to resolve this issue and take back Kachchativu?” the Congress Leader asked Modi on X.
Also, defending the ceding of the island to Sri Lanka under the circumstances of the time, Ramesh said: “In 1974, the same year that Kachchativu became part of Sri Lanka, the Sirimavo Bandaranaike-Indira Gandhi Pact allowed the repatriation of 600,000 Tamil people from Sri Lanka. In a single move, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi secured human rights and dignity for six lakh hitherto stateless people.”
Several other Congress leaders have also made comments in response to Modi’s allegations. However, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi, members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, have reacted so far.
Potential strain on diplomacy
With Kachchativu being made an election campaign issue by the BJP, the potential impact on bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka is of prime concern.
The Sri Lankan Government is acting with great diplomatic prudence without any official response. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, Water Supply Minister Jeevan Thondaman, and Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda have personally expressed their views. When reporters asked Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardana, he only replied that there were elections in India.
At the same time, the views expressed by the main English newspapers of both countries through editorials has evinced attention. It is interesting to note that their common view was that sensitive issues like Kachchativu should not be exploited for electoral politics in a manner that would affect bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka.
A Colombo English daily wrote that the Indian Prime Minister stirring up an issue that has been sensitive in Tamil Nadu would force Sri Lanka to seek friends and security guarantees elsewhere in other regions.
The general impression among India’s reputed English newspapers was that Prime Minister Modi had started an unhealthy trend by trying to use an issue that had been resolved years ago for political gain and that he should exercise responsibility when commenting on emotive issues.
Rejecting External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s comments, the Hindustan Times has said that there was no connection between the safety of Indian fishermen and the Kachchativu issue.
The Dravidian movement parties in Tamil Nadu have been continuously insisting on the demand to retrieve Kachchativu from Sri Lanka. There had been occasions when former Chief Ministers Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa approached the Supreme Court to seek redress. However, it has been the firm stand of the central governments, whether they were under the Congress or the BJP, that the Kachchativu Agreement cannot be reversed. Even under new leaderships, the Dravidian parties continue to insist on retrieving the island.
While Modi and his party may believe that the Kachchativu issue can be used to garner votes in Tamil Nadu, some commentators question whether it can be expected that the issue will be forgotten after the elections. They point out that Jaishankar’s claim that the issue has been resolved is wrong.
Forced to compete with China in safeguarding its strategic and economic interests in Sri Lanka, it is imperative for India not to engage in actions that could unnecessarily antagonise Colombo – not that Indian leaders are unaware of it.
It should be noted that as national elections are approaching in Sri Lanka also, there is a danger that Sinhalese nationalist political forces may intensify their anti-India propaganda.
Though Modi is using Kachchativu to attack the Congress and the DMK, he is not saying that he will retrieve the island.
In the meantime, the comments made by former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India and experienced Administrative Service officer Austin Fernando’s comments to The Indian Express last week are noteworthy.
He said: “The BJP does not have enough people’s support in Tamil Nadu, so it seems that they have stirred up the Kachchativu issue now. But since the party will win nationally, it will be difficult for the Central Government to get out of the Kachchativu issue after the elections. We and they should think about this.”
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)